In all honesty this has been a god awful weekend with technical issues. This Is not supposed to be today’s post but c’est la vie.

When Ailsa laid out delicate as her Travel Theme of the week, I had two ways to go. I had been in Fort Lee Historic Park as I related here and decided to go with some foliage shots. I did think about going in a different direction. Actually, this is where the tech issues started this weekend. I met a nice Japanese woman who was taking pictures of her two young children and asked me if I would take a picture of her with the kids. Naturally I did. We talked a bit and joked through our language barrier about the fact I shoot with a good Japanese camera (Nikon) and she shoots with a Canon (given to her by her father-in-law who is a TV bigwig and knows the head of Canon Japan.) I asked her if I could take a few shots of the kids and she said yes. I then had her type her email on my phone so i could send them to her. Sadly, while her English was much better than my Japanese she must have missed or added something because I can’t find her!

I think these children (and her expression in one shot) express the true meaning of delicate. If anyone happens to recognize her – hey it is the Internet, stranger things have happened – have her get in touch with me. I do know that the daughter’s name starts with ‘Momo” which Noritsu (sp?) told me means “little peach” in Japanese.

Before the storm smashed into the Tri-state I had a chance to attend PhotoPlus Expo at the Javits Center. I had a lovely long post or two planned but don’t have the desire to write them anymore. However, one of the fun things about the show is that many of the major vendors stock their booths with models (at a Trade Show? Who ever heard of such a thing!)

I went to a seminar at B&H yesterday and the subject of the histogram came up (warned you). The histogram (explanatory link to the Nikon School) is that graph that shows you where the brightness levels in your picture are from darkest to lightest. A theory is that you want most of the graph to be in the middle three sections. Too far to the right and you are overexposed. Too far to the left, under exposed.

Here are three versions of the same shot – each has a “good” histogram. I have moved one setting in Lightroom in the second two pictures.

Image as I first worked it…

Image with a change in White Balance (Used Auto Function in Lightroom)

I have been feeling a bit unsettled over the past few weeks and have been not enjoying much of anything. Even the blog has been a chore. But there is something to be said for committing to something. When I started this I committed to: Visit the Hudson everyday, if possible – out of town trips, illness, and family crisis excepted; Shoot the Hudson everyday, even if from a distance through the trees or buildings and realize that not everyday would produce good pictures but not to worry about that; produce a blog post everyday, as long as I had internet access.

The real commitment was to producing the blog post. A daily discipline…

I have been stressing way to much about the quality of the images recently. The fact is no one, from the “great masters” on down, gets great shots everyday. Yesterday, I reminded myself that this blog is on the fun side of life’s ledger. It isn’t work for others, it is work for me.

And then I went to the “PDN PhotoPlus INT’L Conference & Expo” at the Javits Center. Nikon was good enough to start me laughing as soon as I walked in…

Nikon's Tribute to Mad Men

Abigail and I both agree that having the model’s dresses be the same color as the camera “buries the lead” as it were. Yes, a lot of people stopped and stared, shot many pictures, but very few seemed to even notice the cameras, especially since, most of the time they blended with the dress. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe Nikon’s goal is to have the camera just be another accessory for a woman’s fashionable night on the town…